Fabrication of independent nickel microstructures with anodizing of aluminum, laser irradiation, and electrodeposition

Independent microstructures made of Ni metal were fabricated by five sequential processes:porous anodic oxide film for-mation, pore sealing, laser irradiation, Ni electroplating, and removal of the aluminum substrate and anodic oxide films. Aluminum plates and rods were anodized in an oxalic acid solution to form porous type anodic oxide films, and then immersed in boiling dis-tilled water for pore sealing. The anodized and pore-sealed specimens were irradiated with a pulsed neodymium-doped yttrium alu-minum garnet (Nd-YAG) laser beam in a Ni plating solution to remove anodic oxide film locally by rotating and moving up/down with an XYZθ-stage. Nickel was deposited at the area where film had been removed by cathodic polarization in the solution before removing the aluminum substrate and anodic oxide films in NaOH solutions. Cylindrical or plain network structures were fabricated successfully.